The Mistakes We Made Together

Chapter 7: Kiss

Emma remembered clearly when she had first kissed Benjamin.

It was two days after the college entrance exam, at the end of her senior year of high school. Her class had organized a gathering, and she had gone.

After dinner, they went to a KTV. Finally free from the pressure of three years of high school, everyone let loose. Singing, drinking, playing games.

She had drunk a little beer too. By ten o'clock, there was no sign of the gathering ending. She couldn't hold on any longer, so she called home, hoping the family driver would come pick her up.

She sat on the steps outside the KTV, hugging her knees and resting her head on them. After waiting for twenty minutes, it was Benjamin who showed up.

At that time, Benjamin had just graduated from university abroad. Henry wanted him to join the family company, but he insisted on starting his own business overseas. Father and son had argued at home for a month.

In the end, neither had won. Benjamin was completely unyielding, adopting an attitude of “you say what you want, I'll do what I want.”

He walked up to the step where she was sitting and bent down to call her.

She had been drinking, so her reactions were slow. When she finally looked up, he was already so close that their lips brushed together unexpectedly.

They stayed like that for two seconds before Benjamin pulled away. His expression was calm, as if that faint, fleeting kiss had never happened. After stepping back, he smelled the alcohol on her and furrowed his brows, asking if she had been drinking.

Emma had already been dazed from the alcohol; the kiss made her even more confused. After a few seconds, she lowered her head, grabbed her hair, and ruffled it, saying she had drunk a little beer.

Benjamin took her arm and pulled her up from the steps.

Her legs felt weak, her feet unsteady, and her vision was blurred. After taking two steps down, she almost tripped on every step.

Benjamin had no choice. He squatted down in front of her, hooked one arm around her legs, and lifted her onto his back.

When they got down the steps, Jack came over to meet them. He couldn't see Emma's face and asked Benjamin who was on his back.

She heard Benjamin say, “My sister.”

Pulling herself back to the present, the man in front of her still surrounded her with his strong scent. She swallowed hard, raised her hand to push him away, but Benjamin grabbed her wrist and pinned it behind her back.

Then he stood straight, staring down at her in the darkness.

At that moment, Emma's phone rang. The screen lit up suddenly, showing the name “David.”

Before she could decide whether to answer, Benjamin snatched the phone from her. His face expressionless, he swiped to end the call, then tossed the phone aside onto a wooden counter.

The phone screen cast a soft glow. Before Emma could get a clear look at him, the light dimmed again. Then he took half a step forward, and she felt herself being completely wrapped in his arms.

Her neck suddenly felt cool, as if something had been put around it.

“Happy birthday,” she heard Benjamin say.

Two minutes later, Benjamin left the private room first. She leaned against the wall for a while, turned on her phone to check the time, and waited five minutes before going out.

As soon as she stepped out, she ran into William, who had come out to look for her.

William was surprised to see her, then glanced at the room behind her. “Sis, what were you doing in there?”

Emma closed the door. “Answering a call.”

William scratched the back of his head and said “oh,” then pointed to the private room not far away. “Let's go back then. Brother's already here, you're the only one missing for your birthday dinner.”

She walked over with William. When they entered, she saw her seat was next to David. It was a round table, and she was directly across from Benjamin.

He didn't look up; he was staring down at his phone, leaning back slightly in his chair, as if he had no interest in the meal.

As she sat down, William noticed the necklace around her neck and leaned in. “Is that a blue diamond? It's so big. When did you buy it?”

It was a mermaid-tail necklace, and the dark blue gem in the pendant was half the size of a fingertip.

William didn't remember Emma wearing jewelry often, especially not something so eye-catching, so he asked about it.

Emma paused, raised her hand to touch it, and instinctively covered the pendant. “A while ago.”

“You should wear it more,” William said sweetly. “Sis, you look prettier in dresses with jewelry.”

David, sitting on Emma's other side, heard this and joked, “Does that mean your sister isn't pretty without dresses or necklaces?”

William quickly nodded. “No, she's pretty either way!”

Then he picked up his glass, held it up to Emma with both hands, and said, “Happy birthday! Am I the first to say it?”

Emma didn't reply, she just raised her glass to clink with his. She thought of what Benjamin had said to her in the private room next door.

He had been the first to wish her a happy birthday.

After dinner, on the way home, both William and Emma rode in Benjamin's car.

Emma sat in the passenger seat, while William bounced around restlessly in the back like a hyperactive monkey.

He leaned over the gap between the front seats and asked Benjamin, “Brother, what do you think of David?”

Emma was tired. She rested her head against the window frame and stared out at the street.

She heard Benjamin say, “He's okay.”

“Just 'okay'?” William questioned. “I don't think he's good enough. He's like a smiling tiger, he doesn't deserve you, Sis. And he doesn't even like you. Even though it's a marriage alliance, I still want Sis to find someone who likes her.”

William, emboldened somehow, clicked his tongue softly at Benjamin. “None of you guys my age are any good.”

Benjamin let out a faint laugh, his tone low and unreadable.

When they got home, the car parked in front of the house, and the three of them got out.

William was young and full of energy. He had chattered nonstop the whole way, and he was still talking now.

Emma walked ahead. She heard William, who was walking next to Benjamin behind her, ask, “Sis is getting married soon, when are you going to?”

“Brother, do you have a girlfriend? You can't still be single, right?” Then William's voice dropped. “Do you have a girlfriend but just aren't telling the family? Tell me secretly, I won't tell Mom and Dad.”

William added, “Dad even mentioned setting you up on a blind date the other day, but Mom stopped him. She said she'll wait until you're ready. But I think Dad's really worried about this.”

“You can't get married after Sis, can you?” William said.

Emma walked ahead. The dry, warm summer night wind blew from behind, carrying William's words to her ears.

Unconsciously, she raised her hand to touch the necklace around her neck. She stepped on a leaf on the ground, and her heart skipped a beat for no reason, she felt a powerless weariness.

She hadn't heard Benjamin reply. She took a slow breath, then exhaled. The fresh air filled her lungs and came out again, feeling like stale air.

She would have to find a time to return the necklace to Benjamin. Judging by the size of the gem, it must be very expensive.

When she entered the house, she went to sit on the first-floor terrace for a while. When she came back, Sophia and Henry had already gone to bed. Only William was in the living room, still playing his unfinished game.

William heard the noise, turned around, and saw her. “Sis.”

Emma glanced at the game he was playing and asked, “Where's your brother?”

“In the study, I think,” William said, manipulating the controller. He let out a yelp when his character fell off the screen. “I saw him take a call and go upstairs just now.”

William added, “I think it was his assistant calling.”

Emma went upstairs. Halfway up, she took off the necklace. When she reached the second floor, she walked toward the study.

The study door was open. Benjamin was sitting behind his desk, seemingly in a video call.

Emma stood at the door, hesitating whether to go in.

Benjamin saw her. They stared at each other for a few seconds, then he made a gesture for her to come in.

On the other end of the video call was a friend of his from abroad, also his business partner. They were close. When he saw Benjamin looking behind the camera, he asked, “Who's that?”

Noah didn't know Benjamin was at home, he thought Benjamin was at his own place. For him to let someone into his study at this hour...

“Your girlfriend?” Noah guessed.

The computer was on speakerphone. Emma heard Noah's words too. She sat down on a chair against the wall, one hand holding the necklace and resting on the armrest, the other pulling her shawl a little tighter. She didn't look at the man behind the desk.

The air conditioning at home was cold, and she was always sensitive to the cold, so she always wore an extra layer.

Noah saw that Benjamin didn't react, so he laughed again. “What's going on?”

He and Benjamin had been undergraduates at the same Ivy League university for four years. After graduation, they had started a business together abroad and stayed there for another two years. In Noah's mind, Benjamin had always looked like a playboy, but in reality, he was as ascetic as a monk.

“My sister,” Benjamin said, tossing his pen lightly onto the desk and opening the document in front of him. “I'm not wearing headphones, don't talk nonsense.”

Noah froze, then fell silent, not teasing anymore.

He remembered meeting Emma once before. It had been in the early days of the company he and Benjamin had founded abroad. She had come with Benjamin's stepmother.

He recalled her being a very pretty girl, but she had been very young then, just a freshman in college.

Benjamin had been the backbone of the team in the early days, in charge of the core development technology. He had been even busier than Noah.

Back then, they had been so swamped with work that they couldn't leave the company. Benjamin had asked Noah to take Emma out to have fun.

But even though he was supposed to take her out, Benjamin had called every once in a while, like he was afraid Noah would sell his sister in a foreign country.